Building your online brand

Many entrepreneurs focus on building a business, rather than a brand – this is a mistake. Developing an online brand can play an important role in helping you to build a long-lasting, successful business. Just look at Apple – whenever they release a new product, people line up outside their shops to get their hands on it. This is because they feel an emotional connection to the brand and trust in the quality of their items. An online brand is the ultimate way to give your business a competitive advantage and connect with your audience on a more personal level. With that in mind, here are our top ways to build your online brand.

Understand the importance

The first step to building your online brand, is to understand the important role that it plays in the success of your business. Some business owners are reluctant to invest in online branding, because they feel that it may be a waste of money and yield little results. However, building your online brand can have a number of significant benefits such as creating awareness and interest in your business, attracting new customers, growing your business online, and securing repeat customers. All of these are important factors in any successful business.

Research your target audience

Before you can build an online brand, it is also important to understand your target audience. Make sure you do thorough research and establish who your audience are and what will appeal to them – this includes things like their gender, age, and interests. You can use a number of online tools to help you identify your target audience. Some useful examples include Google Trends, Compete, and Comscore. These tools with provide you with valuable information on your target audience, and help you determine what they will want to see and hear. This will enable you can create an effective online brand strategy and develop your brands voice.

Use a range of media platforms

The most effective online branding strategies use a variety of different media platforms to capture their audience. For example, use content networks to develop your brand through repetition, then use behavioural marketing to get your advertisements seen by your target audience. You also need to consider what social media you are going to use. There are plenty of different social media platforms, so make sure you find the one that’s best for your business. Your market research should help you understand what social media your audience uses, and how to reach them. Remember that social media is a great tool for getting organic traffic and building your online brand, so make sure you take advantage of it! It’s also important to keep in mind that media platforms are constantly evolving, so make sure you are flexible and adapt your strategies to any new changes.

Create a recognisable logo

Your brand logo is extremely important. It has the power to arouse interest in your audience and build awareness of your brand and business. Make sure you choose a unique logo, that is easily recognisable and reflects the story behind your business – brands like Apple and Nike are a good example. Keep in mind that people are likely to forget or confuse a logo that is too complicated, so it’s always best to keep it simple!

Remember that content is key

Posting regular quality and relevant content, is one of the best way to connect with your audience and build your online brand. We see content everywhere – from Google and Youtube, to Facebook and Instagram. Good quality content will attract more people and if they enjoy it, then they are going to associate the value of your content to your brand. Posting high quality content is also a great way to encourage similar reputable organisations to repost your content and include backlinks to your website. This will help to generate more traffic to your website and enhance your organic search presence. Remember, the more prevalent your brand becomes in the mind of your peers, the stronger your reputation will grow online.

Build your reputation online

Building your reputation online is extremely important. People aren’t going to buy from your business if they don’t know or trust it. Online reputation and brand authority is also an important factor in your search engine rankings, as more authoritative sites will appear higher in search engine result pages. This will help to drive more quality traffic to your website and generate more conversions for your business. It is important to remember that building an online reputation for your brand will take time and consistency is key. Keep posting quality, relevant content and eventually your brand will build a following and brand authority online.

How Will SEO Help My Business?

SEO might sound like something other people think about. Why would you want to know about this when you run a business in a different sector? How will it help your business?

The truth is, if you can get your SEO practises right, your business will grow. In today’s world in which more people search for goods online than ever before, you need a website, and if you have a website, you need it to be noticed – particularly in you are working in an area that has a lot of competition. Getting noticed is all about SEO. Here’s how it can help your business grow, be noticed, and thrive.

Improve Your Search Engine Rankings

When you search for something online, the likelihood is that, unless you know exactly which website to head to from the start, you are going to use a search engine. The most used search engine in the UK is Google, so much so that ‘to google’ has become a verb that we all use with hardly a second thought.

Using SEO correctly means that you will be seen higher up in the search engine (and particularly Google) rankings. You may wonder why this matters, but it is actually hugely important for the success of your business. People don’t have a lot of time – when they are searching for something it’s because they want to find the answer. The first page of search engine results are where they will concentrate their ideas, clicking on the top few links. They might, if nothing useful has come up, venture to the second page, but it is unlikely they will go much further – they will change their search terms instead.

Being on that first page of results is crucial, and being as near to the top as possible is something to aim for. SEO can get you there.

Conversion Rates

The number of people who visit your website compared to the number of people who buy when they are there is your conversion rate. Clearly, the more people who buy, the better your conversion rate will be, and the better it is, the more profit you will make.

Properly targeted, well thought out SEO campaigns will help to increase that ratio and give you a better conversion rate. This is because targeted SEO will bring people who are genuinely interested in what you are selling; they have already half decided that they want something from you, and you simply need to finish the process. This saves time, money, and effort, and all stems from the correct usage of SEO.

Brand Awareness

Every business needs to be more visible if they want to be more successful. This means working on ‘brand awareness’ so that, even if people don’t need what you are selling right now, when they do need it they will immediately think of your brand and your business.

Again, SEO will help with this. It links back to getting better rankings on the search engines, as this is certainly a good start. But it is also about using SEO to place your website and your ads in other places so that they begin to be noticed all around. A great example of this is social media and your blog.

Engagement

In order to become more successful, you need to ensure you have good customer engagement. SEO can ensure that this is possible. The more people who see your website, your social media posts, your blog, and your adverts, the more people will get in touch with you. This gives you the perfect opportunity to find new customers and to engage with them.

Social media is particularly good for this; people can see the questions that are asked, and your responses (assuming they are made public). This will show that you care about your customers and that you want to work with them and help them wherever possible. In some cases this caring side of your business can be the reason that people turn to you rather than a competitor, and therefore it is imperative to get it right.

It isn’t just the public forum of social media that counts when it comes to engagement, of course. Even if no one else sees the question or the answer you provide, it is just as important to answer any question that comes your way. You should also acknowledge any feedback, pay attention to reviews – positive or negative – and always remain professional at all times.